reasons
by tatty ted
Summary: Ebony Carter stumbles upon Stuart Hordley's attempt at blackmailing Rachel Mason over her past. Advice given from a fifteen year old shows Rachel that one little mistake shouldn't define who you are and that Stuart Hordley will never be able to stop her from being Miss Mason. - —Rachel/OC.


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**reasons**  
_you have won, go ahead . . _

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She was always warned that one day, her thirst for gossip would get her into trouble and yet she didn't listen. Why would she? She was fifteen, she was slightly innocent about the world, she still didn't believe in evil and all that.

She swallows hard as she listens to the conversation going on in the office. She was dared by her best friend Emily to listen in on a teacher's private conversation whilst another Peter, he was called, agreed it would be Miss Mason's conversation.

She feels slightly sick, the palms of her hands getting sweaty. She's listening hard, hoping she doesn't get caught and yet, as much as she doesn't partically enjoy the conversation, she can't drag herself away. There's something stopping her and it isn't her quest for gossip either.

"I'm sure Miss Mason won't appreciate you listening in on her private conversation like that,"

She looks to the voice of the female secretary and nods. She swallows hard before she knocks on the door. The door opens and she feels like a rabbit in headlights and she looks to Miss Mason, noting her body language. She doesn't have to say anything because Rachel tells her to take a seat and she'd be with her as soon as possible.

As she sits down, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and swallows again. The words echo around her head and she tries to shake them away. She can't exactly walk in there and reveal that she nows that Miss Mason used to be a prostitute called Amanda, but she can't not do anything either.

She isn't alone for long with her thoughts when Stuart Hordley walks past and she watches him leave whilst thinking to herself that he is a bastard to resort to blackmail. She takes a deep breath and walks into the office,

"What can I do for you Ebony?"

"I'm just struggling at the moment, you know with looking after mum and doing my homework. I was wondering, could you have a word with Miss Haydock for me? Please, she doesn't seem to listen everytime I try and tell her I'm struggling."

Rachel smiles and nods, "Of course I will, how is your mum?"

"She's okay thanks Miss. The Doctor says she's deteriorating rapidly but she'll be okay, we both will." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear before she looks at Rachel and asks softly, "Are you okay Miss?"

Rachel says she is but Ebony doesn't believe her. She can read people's body language, she knew when people were lying. It's how she knew her mother was ill before she was told that her mother had cancer and it was terminal.

She swallows and blurts out; "I heard what Mr Hordley was saying to you," their eyes briefly met before Ebony continues, "It's wrong Miss what he's doing, its illegal. He can't blackmail you, especially not over that."

"What exactly did you hear?"

"Enough," Rachel sighs and looks at Ebony. Here she is, living a lie. She didn't expect anyone to find out let alone fifteen year old Ebony Castle, the most gobbiest girl in school. She feels a little sick inside knowing her secret isn't safe and it might never be safe again. By this afternoon everyone could discover she was a whore.

"Who have you told?"

"Nobody," their eyes met again and Ebony nods, "swear that's the truth. I might be a gobby cow Miss but I won't tell anyone, promise."

"You can't tell anyone about this Ebony," Rachel answers back and Ebony nods. She understands and Rachel's left wondering how her life came to be like this. A hiden identity, a blackmail plot and a student stumbling upon her darkest, deepest secret.

"Honestly Miss, you can't let him blackmail you."

Rachel looks at Ebony and sighs. She's young, she's bright and yet she's naive and innocent. She believed everything was simple, most things in life were generally good and happy. She sighs deeply again and answers; "Ebony, you don't understand."

"Yes I do," she answers back, "You can't back his bid for the centre just because he'll ruin you otherwise. He's a bast—" She smirks as she realises she almost swore in front of her headteacher and continues; "an idiot. If you let him do this, he'll continue to do it."

"It isn't that simple, if any of this comes out, I'll have to resign."

"No you won't!" Their eyes met again briefly and Ebony smiles warmly; "Do you really think we're bothered about who you used to be? You used to be called Amanda and you made one mistake. To me, to us, you're Miss Mason. You're the only teacher who's ever looked at me and seen potential, everyone else wrote me off."

Rachel's taking in Ebony's words. Yes, she used to be called Amanda and she used to be a prostitute but why had she become a teacher? To stop youngsters like her from believing they were utterly worthless and selling themselves, "Unfortunately not everyone is as understanding as you Ebony."

"Well they should be," there's a pause for a second; "You made a mistake Miss, one tiny mistake. What is it you say to us, one mistake doesn't and shouldn't define who you are."

Rachel can't help but smile at Ebony's words about one mistake defining who you are. She took a deep breath and realised that she did have a point. She really shouldn't allow one mistake to ruin her life, she'd worked hard to become Rachel Mason, respected headteacher.

Ebony stands up from the chair, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and walks to the door. Before she places her hand on the door handle, she turns to look at Miss Mason one last time; "Honestly Miss, if you decide not to listen to him, we'll be behind you one hundred percent. You're one of the best and we like you here."

She smiles as she closes the door behind her. Rachel thought about what Ebony said about the mistake, not letting it ruin her and realised; she couldn't let Stuart Hordley ruin her life forever.

She had a past she wasn't proud of but it had made her who she was today. It had made her Rachel Mason, the headteacher of Waterloo Road, the person who believed Ebony Carter had potential to go far in life and as far as she was concerned; Stuart Hordley wasn't going to ruin that.

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**jottings** / if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review:3


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